1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid discharge recording head cartridge and a liquid discharge recording apparatus. The invention is not only applicable to the general recording apparatus, but also, to a copying machine, a facsimile apparatus provided with communication system, a word processor provided with a recording unit, or the like, as well as to a recording apparatus for industrial use which is complexly combined with various processing devices.
The term “printing” referred to in the description of the specification hereof is meant to include the formation of characters, graphics, and the other meaningful information, and also, include broadly images, figures, patterns, and others which are formed on a printing medium, and the processing of a printing medium as well, irrespective of whether such formation is meaningful or meaningless, and also, whether or not, apparent so as to be visually recognizable by a human. Here, the phrase “printing medium” is not only means to include paper used for the generating printing apparatus, but also, include cloths, resin film, metallic plate, glass, ceramics, wood, leather, and others which are receptive to liquid. Further, the term “liquid” (may be described as “ink” in some cases) should be interpreted broadly as in the case of the aforesaid “printing”, and means the liquid which can be used for the formation of images, figures, patterns, and others, as well as for the processing of a printing medium or processing of ink (coagulation or insolubilization of colorant ink provided for a printing medium, for example), and is meant to include all the liquids that used in relation to printing.
2. Related Background Art
The ink jet recording apparatus is a recording apparatus of the so-called non-impact recording type, which makes it possible to record on various recording mediums at high speed without generating almost no sound, among some other advantages. The ink jet recording apparatus is, therefore, adopted widely for a printer, a word processor, a facsimile apparatus, a copying machine, and the like having recording mechanism provided therefor. The typical ink discharge method adopted for such ink jet recording apparatus is the one that uses electrothermal converting device. For this method, bubbles are created by heat generated by such electrothermal converting device. Then, by utilization of the pressure exerted when bubbles are created, liquid droplets are discharged from fine discharge ports to record on a recording medium.
For the ink jet recording apparatus, it has been demand increasingly more to record in higher image quality and higher precision. As a result, the mode, in which multiple color ink, processing liquid, or the like is used, is on the increase, it has been required, on the other hand, to make the recording apparatus itself smaller.
Under the circumstances, there is used an ink jet cartridge having a recording head unit and a liquid containing portion formed integrally, and further, as the container used for such cartridge, a container is arranged to be formed integrally with a plurality of liquid containing portions to make it possible to retain plural kinds of liquids at present. For a cartridge of the kind, a plurality of ink supply paths are provided for the recording head unit thereof so that a plurality of different kinds of liquids can be discharged. Also, as the mode of a recording head, there is the one in which the ink discharge port array is arranged in plural lines.
Meanwhile, the cartridge may be structured in some cases to include the recording head unit, the holder which is formed integrally with the head recording unit, and the container which is made attachable to and detachable from the holder. In this case, plural kinds of liquids can be held in one holder, but it is arranged to make each liquid containing portion detachable per color or to make plural kinds thereof detachable integrally for utilization depending on the mode of use.
In the coupling mode of the recording head unit in relation to the container and holder capable of retaining plural kinds of liquids integrally, a plurality of ink inducing tubes are concentrated on the holder portion. Therefore, in order to keep the airtightness of the supplying portion exactly, it has been conventionally practiced to adopt a sealing structure in which a sealant is used simply in general in such a manner as to bond the recording head unit provided with electrothermal converting devices and the ink flow paths formed on the liquid flow path formation member of the holder portion by the application of adhesive agent or the like after having positioned them, and then, to firmly fix the circumference of the ink inducing tubes by pouring in a sealant after having fixed the liquid flow path formation member.
With the coupling method that utilizes the sealant for sealing when coupling the ink supply paths of the recording head unit and the flow path formation member of the holder portion, the sealing strength between sealant and resin material is not sufficient enough so that the air is allowed to be accumulated in the ink jet recording head to block the ink supply into the discharge ports in some cases, and causes the “ink deficiency”. Also, it is difficult to control the coating amount of sealant appropriately. Should the amount thereof be slightly short, there is no problem in the initial stage, but when the air accumulation is created in the ink jet recording head, it brings about the “ink deficiency” in some cases.
In the specification of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-119314, a head cartridge is disclosed, in which a head having a number of discharge ports and ink supply paths communicated with these discharge ports formed therefor, and an ink tank connecting portion having the ink flow paths communicated with the ink supply paths of this head formed therefor are integrally connected through a sealing member formed by an elastic material that seals such connecting portion. This method is simple and more reliable than the case where the head and ink tank connecting portion are integrated by use of adhesive agent without using any sealing member in consideration of the time required before the adhesive agent is hardened, and the control of the coating amount thereof as well.